A history-sheeter with at least seven major crimes against his name, including murders, abduction, and extortion, and against whom the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) was invoked earlier, has been arrested by Navi Mumbai police, an official said on Monday.
A probe into his activities began after the burnt body of one Sachin Garej (32) was found some days after he went missing on September 14, 2019, from Nerul police station limits, Navi Mumbai police commissioner Bipin Kumar Singh told reporters.
Garde, who had a monetary dispute with the arrested history-sheeter, abducted him from near a mall in Seawoods, took him to Chirner Hill, shot him dead, and then burn his body, the official said.
Four people were arrested in the case at the time and five were wanted, he said, adding that the history sheeter was held from Panaji in neighbouring Goa. More persons were arrested in the case for allegedly running an extortion racket, the commissioner said.
During the probe, police also found the gang was allegedly responsible for the murder of Panvel resident Ashok Gharat, from whom they had demanded a ransom of Rs 25 lakh.
Gharat was abducted from Manchar in Navi Mumbai on January 27 this year and the gang shot him dead and burnt his body in the Tansa area of Thane district sometime later.
"The gang used the recorded voice message of the victim to extort Rs 25 lakh from his kin. The accused and his associates are also involved in an extortion case registered by the NRI police station and a rape case being probed by CBD Belapur," commissioner Singh said.
